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Character Creation Guide
. ' This guide is a work-in-progress, but it is complete for the most part. Welcome to the character creation guide to the world of . This is a guide that will ease you through character creation so that new players should be able to join without much more assistance. If you are new to Pathfinder or need help on creating a character past this guide, we implore you to search for a guide online or ask for assistance in our character-creation channel in discord. If you are a more advanced player, here are some errata that may prove useful when creating your character.If you're new, come back to this once you've got your bearings. Step 1: Form a Concept Is your character a hardened barbarian joining society, or a mad plague doctor who’s decided to poison his foes instead of curing their wounds? Are you a mighty wizard who wears a three-piece suit and a traditional hat? Are you a highwayman with a loaded revolver and a fist full of magic missiles? 'Your character’s concept does not need to be based on a class that exists in Pathfinder - the classes are incredibly versatile and can be further changed by Archetypes (things that modify the classes to fit your desired play style or theme.)' Often times it is easier (especially for new players) to decide upon a theme, instead of searching through the 500 classes and archetypes that exist. Sometimes it helps to consider characters from other media for your character concept, such as one from a movie or a show. It might end up that the character you create from that inspiration winds up becoming an entirely different character as you grow and explore them. Be sure, though, that you do not clone a character from media, at most use them as an inspiration. For the sake of this character guide, we'll say we want to make a bare fist fighter, who can punch as hard as other weapon users swing. Once you have a character concept, it’s time to move on to the next step. Step 2: Find your Sheets We advise that you use https://www.myth-weavers.com for your character sheets; However, we do allow alternatives if you are able to explain how they work when necessary. Some parts of this guide will pertain specifically to myth-weavers functions and features, most character sheets should have something similar, though. To Create a Character Sheet on Myth-Weavers, select the 'Sheets' tab at the top of the webpage, then through the drop-down menu labeled 'Create', select the Sheet option. Next, choose the Character Name (You can edit it later if you're not sure), Do not make a private character, and use Pathfinder as the Sheet Template (Not experimental) To edit, just click on the name that you now see. (As pictured above, e.g. Luna the Raven) Some things to keep in mind while formatting your character sheet: * Your traits and Drawbacks should be listed in the ‘Character Traits’ and ‘Character Flaws’ Sections. * List on your sheet any racial bonuses you are receiving (including racial ability score bonuses) in the ‘Additional Information’ Section. * List on your sheet all HP rolls that you make in your ‘Statistic Block’ section. * List your favored class, and how you’ve assigned favored class bonuses when applicable in the ‘Additional Information’ section, underneath racial bonuses. * Always note special items looted during quests in your inventory. * New characters start with 2 feats (1 + 1 extra) and gain a new feat every odd character level. Label these on your sheet with (L). * Additional feats gained from classes should be labeled with ©. * Additional feats gained from races should be labeled with ®. * Additional feats from any other sources should be labeled with (O). * Double check to make sure you are getting all appropriate bonuses or penalties where applicable. An example character sheet can be found here. Step 3: Choose a Class Most guides will recommend that you choose ability scores first, but it's normally better to find the class that suits your play style and then generate scores after that. Classes have vital information about Casting and Spells Per day and what attributes add to what, and that is important so that you don't accidentally make a character who sucks as what he is supposed to do. (Not everyone knows Ranged attacks are Dex based, or that Wisdom is a casting stat for a druid. Etc) This is the part of the character creation that takes the most time and consideration. Pathfinder has over one hundred classes, and that is before taking into consideration the innumerable third party classes. (Note, Third-Party classes, feats, and other abilities/mechanics are not allowed unless specifically stated on an errata sheet or by a moderator.) For this part, you can't go wrong with asking someone else to help you spitball ideas, especially if they have a better understanding of the classes than you do. All core, base, hybrid, unchained and occult classes are allowed to be played as well as some particular third party classes. Since we already know that Monks are fighters with a quarterstaff or fists, we're going to choose Monk. The monk class page is here., On the PFSRD. Do remember, that just because a class is typically played one way does not mean that you must play it that way. For instance, a barbarian is typically flavored as a savage, unintelligent warrior. This is not the only way to play a barbarian, because unintelligent savages are not the only characters who feel great rage in their system! Although they aren't mandatory, don't forget to explore Archetypes as well. Listed at the bottom of every class page, they can greatly change how a class feels and plays. For instance, the Knife Master rogue is more about close quarters combat, rather than sneaking around and picking locks & traps! There’s an archetype out there for you! Step 4: Choose a Race Races will impact your choice of attributes slightly, less so than the information from classes. So this step falls before Attributes as well. Now that you have the core of your character, it is time to choose what race you’d like your character to be. Will you be the streamlined, magically adept elf? Will you be a gritty, down-on-his-luck human? Will you be the savage and honorable orc? Pathfinder has a multitude of races at your disposal, allowing you to play anything from the simple to the exotic. Note: when it comes to races with RP costs, a race cannot exceed an RP of 18. We'll choose a Tengu as the race for our monk, the bonuses in dexterity and wisdom will come in handy, and birbs are cute. Step 5: Generate your Attribute Scores In Pathfinder, the core of your character comes from the six attributes; Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. These six attributes are assigned scores which then dictate your basic bonuses for actions related to them. Someone with high Charisma, for instance, will be good at Diplomacy, and someone who has low Intelligence will be named Xor. First, we're going to list the scores and what they do: Strength (STR) - Possibly the most coveted of the attributes, Strength dictates how much damage you do with melee weapons, possibly which weapons you can equip, as well as your carry weight and basic climbing/swimming skills, among other things. If you plan on using large weapons and dealing out a sizable amount of melee damage, you’ll want a decent amount of strength. ' 'Dexterity (DEX) - Favored by rogues and other limber classes, Dexterity increases your Reflex save, allowing you to dodge and minimize the damage you take from certain hazards. It can be used to attack with light melee weapons but does not apply damage to them. It is also used to attack with ranged weapons of almost all kinds. A high dexterity score means your character is naturally better with Sleight of Hand and Acrobatics, necessary skills for assassins, snipers, thieves, and hunters. ' 'Constitution (CON) - Constitution is the measure of how healthy you are, directly increasing your Health and your Fortitude save, allowing you to stave off poisons, the effects of alcohol, and severe physical damage. Someone who plans on being in the fray should invest in this heavily. ' 'Intelligence (INT) - A favorite of Arcane Spell Casters, Intelligence is often used for casting spells. Even if you are not a spell caster, it pays to have a high intelligence score if you want a large number of skill points, as all classes have their basic skill points per level increased by this. ' 'Wisdom (WIS) - Wisdom is the casting stat of divine casters. It also increases your Will save, allowing you to resist the harmful effects of mind-control, illusions, and other, similar hazards. Wisdom also directly affects your perception skill, which is the most rolled skill check in Pathfinder. ' 'Charisma (CHA) - Charisma allows you to more easily interact with the world, easily convincing people to like you. Some caster classes use Charisma for their magic, like Sorcerer or Bard. Charisma also increases your Use Magic Device skill, making it easier for you to use magical items you have no prior knowledge of. ' '''Now that you have an understanding of the six attributes, it’s time to actually start assigning scores to them. So how do we assign the scores? Well, we’re doing what is known as the “Point-Buy Method.” This method ensures that all of the characters will be within the same level of power while allowing you as the player to customize your character as your heart desires. ' For this game, we are using '''35 points for point-buy. Your ability scores bought using these points have a maximum of 18 and minimum of 7. You can 'dump' stats to give yourself an interesting character dynamic, as well as letting you spend more points. You can do this with a web page calculator, such as Jody White's Point Buy Calculator, or manually, with this chart on the right. To use the point buy calculator, choose Other on the right, type 35, and press Enter. Then you select your race. If you are a Half Elf, Half Orc, Human or Other that is not on the list, you will have to check the circle that you want the +2 in, or enter your racial modifiers manually. ' '''For our monk, strength, dexterity, and wisdom will be our focus on ability scores. After racial bonuses, our ability scores will look something like this. '''Str': 17 Dex: 18 Con: 12 Int: 12 Wis: 17 Cha: 8 Strength is set at 17, which is a point off from the next modifier increast (is currently a +3 to str based checks, at 18 becomes +4). This is set low in anticipation for fourth level, where we get an ability score to allocate. Dexterity and wisdom are our defensive stats as a monk, so both are set high at 18 and 17 respectively. Constitution took a -2 hit from our racial bonuses, so extra points were spent to bring us back to a positive score of 12, or a +1 modifier. Intelligence isn't normally an important skill for monks, but we want our character to be somewhat skillfull and intelligent, so the intelligence score is brought up to a 12, giving us a bonus on knowledge checks and an extra skill point per level. Charisma is not the strong suit of our monk, who is focused primarily on his duties and morals as a monk. Charisma was dumped to 8 to reflect this and give us some extra points to mess around with. Our 35 point buy may be large, but it is that large to promote interesting characters without having to crunch hard on the stats to become viable. Use these extra points to your advantage and create an interesting and colorful character. Step 6: Pick your Starting Feat(s) Feats are a core part to Pathfinder, and could easily be considered similar to “perks” from the fallout franchise - bonuses or new abilities that are disconnected from your class, which can help you better define your play style. GameTime uses something called the elephant in the room ruleset. These rules change the function of some feats, so read up on the changes to make sure you are not taking any feats that are being removed from this ruleset. With these in mind, pick two feats to gain for level 1 (and a third feat for level 3, see step 9) (In this campaign, we start with two feats for the first level. Most other games only give you one.) ((If you are a Human, this stacks with the racial Bonus Feat - meaning that Humans get three feats from first level.)) Step 7: Traits Traits Traits! Pathfinder offers a great system for encouraging you to adhere to your character’s personality; Traits and Drawbacks! All characters must start out with two traits and one drawback, and can gain more traits by taking more drawbacks (at a one to one ratio.) Meaning, if you have three traits, you need two drawbacks. If you have four traits, then you have three drawbacks. (subject to change: traits per category) Traits and Drawbacks offer a variety of different things, from more starting money and equipment to skills that your class otherwise wouldn’t have, and special abilities that are unique to you, so read carefully to give yourself the best experience. ' Step 8: Starting Equipment' Everyone begins the game with 1,500 gold pieces and an outfit worth up to 10gp. You can increase your starting amount of gold with certain traits!' ' Step 9: Level up The starting level for is level 3, to account for our current player base’s higher levels. In order to level up, follow the prior steps for your class, with a new twist - instead of simply taking the highest amount possible for health like you did for level 1, you must roll your classes hit-die (health die). If you roll lower than half of that amount, change it to half and add your constitution after that.